2 Samuel 7:1-17

7:1 The king settled into his palace,1 for the Lord gave him relief2 from all his enemies on all sides.37:2 The king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a palace made from cedar, while the ark of God sits in the middle of a tent.”
7:3 Nathan replied to the king, “You should go4 and do whatever you have in mind,5 for the Lord is with you.”
7:4 That night the Lord told Nathan,67:5 “Go, tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: Do you really intend to build a house for me to live in?
7:6 I have not lived in a house from the time I brought the Israelites up from Egypt to the present day. Instead, I was traveling with them and living in a tent.77:7 Wherever I moved among all the Israelites, I did not say8 to any of the leaders9 whom I appointed to care for10 my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?”’

7:8 “So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd11 to make you leader of my people Israel.
7:9 I was with you wherever you went, and I defeated12 all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth.137:10 I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle14 them there; they will live there and not be disturbed15 any more. Violent men16 will not oppress them again, as they did in the beginning
7:11 and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. Instead, I will give you relief17 from all your enemies. The Lord declares18 to you that he himself19 will build a dynastic house20 for you.
7:12 When the time comes for you to die,21 I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you,22 and I will establish his kingdom.
7:13 He will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent.237:14 I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings.
7:15 But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
7:16 Your house and your kingdom will stand before me24 permanently; your dynasty25 will be permanent.’”
7:17 Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.26

2 Samuel 12:1-23

12:1 So the Lord sent Nathan27 to David. When he came to David,28 Nathan29 said,30 “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.
12:2 The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
12:3 But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children.31 It used to32 eat his food,33 drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms.34 It was just like a daughter to him.

12:4 “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home,35 he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed36 the traveler who had come to visit him.37 Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked38 it for the man who had come to visit him.”

12:5 Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!3912:6 Because he committed this cold-hearted crime, he must pay for the lamb four times over!”40

12:7 Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I chose41 you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul.
12:8 I gave you your master’s house, and put your master’s wives into your arms.42 I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all that somehow seems insignificant, I would have given you so much more as well!
12:9 Why have you shown contempt for the word of the Lord by doing evil in my43 sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife as your own!44 You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
12:10 So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!’
12:11 This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on you45 from inside your own household!46 Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion.47 He will have sexual relations with48 your wives in broad daylight!4912:12 Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.’”50

12:13 Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven51 your sin. You are not going to die.
12:14 Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt52 in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.”

12:15 Then Nathan went to his home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill.5312:16 Then David prayed to54 God for the child and fasted.55 He would even56 go and spend the night lying on the ground.
12:17 The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them.

12:18 On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us57 when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!”58

12:19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he59 realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.”
12:20 So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.

12:21 His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While60 the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!”
12:22 He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought,61 ‘Perhaps62 the Lord will show pity and the child will live.
12:23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!’”

18tn In the Hebrew text the verb is apparently perfect with vav consecutive, which would normally suggest a future sense (“he will declare”; so the LXX, ἀπαγγελεῖ [apangelei]). But the context seems instead to call for a present or past nuance (“he declares” or “he has declared”). The synoptic passage in 1 Chr 17:10 has וָאַגִּד (va’aggid, “and I declared”). The construction used in 2 Sam 7:11 highlights this important statement.

20tnHeb “house,” but used here in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. Here the Lord’s use of the word plays off the literal sense that David had in mind as he contemplated building a temple for the Lord. To reflect this in the English translation the adjective “dynastic” has been supplied.

21tnHeb, “when your days are full and you lie down with your ancestors.”

24tcHeb “before you.” A few medieval Hebrew mss read instead “before me,” which makes better sense contextually. (See also the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta.) The MT reading is probably the result of dittography (note the כ [kaf] at the beginning of the next form), with the extra כ then being interpreted as a pronominal suffix.

39tnHeb “the man doing this [is] a son of death.” See 1 Sam 20:31 for another use of this expression, which must mean “he is as good as dead” or “he deserves to die,” as 1 Sam 20:32 makes clear.

40tc With the exception of the Lucianic recension, the Old Greek translation has here “sevenfold” rather than “fourfold,” a reading that S. R. Driver thought probably to be the original reading (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 291). However, Exod 22:1 [21:37 HT] specifies fourfold repayment for a stolen sheep, which is consistent with 2 Sam 12:6. Some mss of the Targum and the Syriac Peshitta exaggerate the idea to “fortyfold.”

tnHeb “the lamb he must repay fourfold because he did this thing and because he did not have compassion.”

52tc The MT has here “because you have caused the enemies of the Lord to treat the Lord with such contempt.” This is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this ancient tradition, the scribes changed the text in order to soften somewhat the negative light in which David was presented. If that is the case, the MT reflects the altered text. The present translation departs from the MT here. Elsewhere the Piel stem of this verb means “treat with contempt,” but never “cause someone to treat with contempt.”

53tnHeb “and the Lord struck the child…and he was ill.” It is necessary to repeat “the child” in the translation to make clear who became ill, since “the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became very ill” could be understood to mean that David himself became ill.